Kyle Shanahan: C.J. Beathard will be 49ers No. 2 QB in third exhibition game

49ers coach Kyle Shanahan maintained Friday there’s still an open competition for the backup quarterback job between C.J. Beathard and Matt Barkley.

But he also decided that Beathard, for the second straight game Sunday in Minnesota, will be the second quarterback in after Brian Hoyer.

“I’ve seen Barkley play in the NFL before. I’d like to see C.J. do it a little bit more,” Shanahan said.

To wit, Barkley has 11 NFL games and six starts under his belt since getting drafted in the fourth round in 2013. Sunday will mark Beathard’s third preseason game after the 49ers tapped him in the third round of the NFL draft last spring.

But Beathard has been the better of the two in the limited sample of two preseason games. He’s completed 11 of 23 (61 percent), for 211 yards and has the only three touchdown passes for San Francisco over the last two weeks. His passer rating leads the team at 130.6.

Barkley: 11 of 19 (58 percent), 178 yards, 89.4 passer rating. And he was more prone to throwing interceptions throughout training camp than Beathard, who appeared to have a more steady grasp of the offense. Barkley was the second quarterback to come in during the preseason opener in Kansas City, Beathard had that designation last week against Denver.

The question facing the 49ers, should Beathard win the backup job, is whether or not to keep three quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, which will be finalized Sept. 2.

Keeping two would allow for an extra roster spot to use elsewhere, perhaps for an extra special teams player or depth along the defensive front. San Francisco might also need an extra offensive linemen if Joshua Garnett’s knee injury forces him to miss games in the regular season. The prognosis for Garnett’s recovery is unknown after having a clean up procedure before the first preseason game.

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